The Death of Lee’s Market’s Blue Lobster [SOUTHCOAST CONFESSIONS]

If you're from the Westport area or have visited Lee's Market within the last 13 years, then you're most likely familiar with the famous blue lobster.

What you may not know or realize about that blue lobster is somewhat surprising. They say that for every million lobsters you find in the ocean, one of them will have a blue-tinted shell. When you think of the odds of finding one, it's pretty significant, even to a lobsterman.

The rarity of these blue bottom dwellers is beyond measure, but what I'm about to tell you is only known among a select few employers of Lee's Market--and I'm one of them.

The blue lobster that you know and love is not the original, and I'll explain why.

Sometime during the summer of 2005, I was working my shift in the brand new Blue Lobster Café. One of my duties, believe it or not, was to clean the tank every so often to make sure the blue lobster that was rumored to be very expensive (somewhere in the thousands of dollars) was living well in a clean environment.

While cleaning the tank one day, I nudged the lobster along to filter out the junk that was built up in his favorite corner. I'll never forget how feisty he would be, always trying to clamp onto the fish net and glass brush. As he moved along, I picked up a large rock with a metal rod that was long enough and strong enough to pick it up enough to clean underneath. What happened next was tragic (or so I soon found out).

As the rock was still lifted off the ground, the lobster came waltzing back underneath it, just in time for the rod to slip on the slimy rock and pin it to the bottom of the tank. Quickly, out of panic, I threw my arm into the tank and reached down to the bottom to lift the rock.

What have I done?!

Suddenly, the lobster started crawling away again, seeming very normal and unharmed, as if nothing had even happened. That's what I thought, at least.

The following day, as I went back into work, I noticed an empty tank, no blue lobster to be found anywhere. The front manager had told me that the lobster had passed away overnight unexpectedly and no one could figure out why. Well, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that mystery, and have been holding it a shameful burden for over 13 years.

Now, before you point fingers, there's still no proof that it was from my water tank maintenance accident. After all, he did get back up and walked away when he was released from the rock. I got lucky! Or so I thought.

A couple days later, the previous owner had heard news of ANOTHER blue lobster that was found locally from a fisherman, and again, rumor says he paid that man a hefty sum for the one-in-a-million find. That lobster, the second one, is the one people know and are more familiar with.

Please don't get me wrong, I was 16 and I had absolutely no idea that just MAYBE the rock did some damage, and I've had to live with that conclusion. I come to you today with not only a confession, but to ask for forgiveness, for I did not know at the time what I might have done. I'm a lover of all animals, slimy, stinky and everything else in between and would NEVER cause harm to any of them.

As Usher once said, this is my confession.

#RIPLarryTheLobster